Brazen Bull of Perillos
Origin The brazen bull was a torture/execution device designed in ancient Greece. Perillos of Athens invented and proposed it to Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily, as a new means of executing criminals. The bull was made of bronze, hollow, with a door in one side. The bull was in the form and size of a real one and had an acoustic apparatus that converted screams into the sound of a bull. The condemned were locked in the device, and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until the person inside roasted to death. Phalaris commanded that the bull be designed in such a way that its smoke rose in spicy clouds of incense. The head of the bull was designed with a complex system of tubes and stops so that the prisoner's screams were converted into sounds like the bellowing of an infuriated bull. According to legend, when the bull was reopened, the victim's scorched bones "shone like jewels and were made into bracelets." Perillos said to Phalaris: "screams will come to you through the pipes as the tenderest, most pathetic, most melodious of bellowings." Disgusted by these words, Phalaris ordered its horn sound system to be tested on Perillos himself. When Perillos entered, he was immediately locked in, and the fire was set, so that Phalaris could hear the sound of his screams. Before Perillos could die, Phalaris opened the door and took him away. Perillos believed he would receive a reward for his invention; instead, after freeing him from the bull, Phalaris threw him from the top of a hill, killing him. Phalaris himself is said to have been killed in the brazen bull when he was overthrown by Telemachus, the ancestor of Theron. Effects While the bull is empty, when it is approached, it will let out a hypnotizing phantom bellow only audible to those near it, compelling them to enter it. Once the door is closed, it will immediately heat itself up to extreme temperatures, slowly roasting the victim alive. Any who are around the bull while it is in use will become entranced themselves by the bellows and incense (the latter being produced with no herbs), making them fascinated with the torture and giving them desires such as to make crafts and jewelry from the bones of the victim and revel in the bull's roars. Storage The bull is to be kept in the back of the Torture Room, covered in several large neutralized blankets and immediately under a neutralizer sprinkler on the ceiling. Furthermore, it is to be put behind a small fence to prevent any potential hypnosis from resulting in death. Collection This bull was collected by Warehouse 1 agents and has carefully been transferred to each subsequent Warehouse ever since, until June 6, 1978 (the day of Agent Barry's presumed death), when it was removed from the Warehouse without altering the security system of the time. It had remained in "PhOto's" collection of artifacts until 2016. In early 2016, agents Hosfelt, Korss, Draco, and Taylor confronted "PhOto", who had been hiding with a kidnapped Soul Drake. Using Albert Fish's Whip of Nails, he was about to use this artifact against Hosfelt before he was shot by Draco. This caused him to lose his focus, and the bull fell onto him and crushed him to death instantly. Moments later, his body burst into flames, revealing he had been a clone produced by Tomas de Torquemada's Torch.Category:Artifact Category:Garr9988 Category:Story Artifact